European sign languages – similar or different?

To be successful in society, people with hearing disability need to master several languages: their mother tongue, at least one foreign language and sign language. This project enables to develop all three languages. Because sign language is the first language for people with hearing disability, they mostly use this language for communication. Young people with hearing disability can benefit greatly from using ICT to communicate (e-mails, exchanging files, web cams). As different countries have different sign languages, this kit will help communication across borders by creating a web based sign language dictionary to enable people learn sign language of a different country.

Age group 13 to17 year-old children with hearing disability 

Duration About 3 years

ICT tools Computer, Internet, Camera, Video

Model Whole school twinning, teacher twinning

Theme Special education

Subjects

• Sign language
• English 
• Informatics/ICT
• Geography

Objectives

• To develop children’s communication skills – in English and in sign language. 
• To develop English language, both written and oral.
• To compare signs from different sign languages and to help to develop one common sign language for the whole Europe through that.
• Develop ICT skills – using the camera, exchanging files, developing home page. 
• Integrate different subjects. 
• Create basis for long-term cooperation

Pedagogical value

• Creates an attractive study environment for teachers, students and for the whole school. 
• Enables to exchange experiences and information between people dealing with similar problems. 
• Enables to form long lasting relations between teachers. 

Process:

Getting started 

Correspondence between teachers:

• Agreeing on project details.
• Introducing daily life and jobs.  
• Introducing the school.

Collecting and sorting information. The following assignments are created in cooperation between pupils and teachers:

• Self-introduction (text, photos)
• Everyday life at school - studying, free time. (PowerPoint)
• Introduction of own country – geography, people, specialties, traditions, food etc (PowerPoint)
• Using MSN Messenger with web cams to discuss certain topics agreed on before – sport, fashion etc (in sign language and written English to support sign language).

The homepage can be used as an animated sign language dictionary – a word is given in English to each country to translate into their home language plus signs on video in each countries sign language.

Exchanging information

Supervising teachers continuously change information about the course of activities – they change experience and give advice.

Outcome

• Web page with all the completed projects and assignments.
• Animated sign language dictionary.

Options

The visual approach can be extended to art expression. Pupils can make pictures or take photos about their daily life and write short messages to explain them. Then they scan them or just upload them in folders in their TwinSpace.

Similar projects

Similar skills (Word, PowerPoint and MSN Messenger) have been used to some extent in Comenius-project Cultural similarities and differences of people with hearing disability in multicultural Europe (2004-2006) in which Estonia, Belgium, France, Cyprus and Greece took part.

	Web Editor:	Sylvia Binger

	Published :	28/03/2006

	Last changed :	16/02/2007

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